BioWare: Mass Effect 3 Combat Perfected

[Ian Caronia]

Who cares? As much as you say it isn't an RPG, I say it is. Does that take anything away from it? No. It just means you define an RPG differently than what Mass Effect provides. It isn't wrong, per se, but I think in general, the negative bashing that comes with ranting at it supposedly not being an RPG is tiresome at best, and petulant at worst.

Mass Effect is unlike any other game I've played. I wouldn't want it to be like a Call of Duty shooter anymore than I would want it to be like a by-the-numbers RPG like Baldur's Gate. People just need to chill and love the Mass Effect for what it is.

Hrm... That's-!
...Hm.. Well It's just-
...
XD Okay, you got me. It's true that life is colored by perception, and that if someone enjoys something through a particular perception that doesn't hurt anybody/thing than there's no reason to try to change their POV. Just like I passed your test, you surprised me with this outlook.

You can say that all the arguments I've gone through defending P4 and Oblivion from the MEW [Mass Effect Wankers (my term for those who jerk-off on the ME box because it's their one true religion or something)] has left me with a short fuse for Bioware's public speeches on their game and how they put down other genre when their games have the same "flaws".

Anyway, I can agree and agree to disagree with you on this one, mate. I want lesser known RPGs to get their time in the light and the awards they're due, and I hate how Bioware is turning an RPG shooter into a straight up shooter with generic tired gunplay (your opinion on the ladders is promising though), but at the end of the day I guess it really doesn't matter how we define it so long as it's fun.

Glad you were as amiable as I hoped you were, mate! Hope you have fun with your ME3 RPG, because I hope I'll be having a blast with my ME3 shooter!

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Yeah, not exactly looking forward to it.

In ME2, you were just as accurate and your guns were just as strong at the end as they were at the beginning. You did not get more accurate, your guns didn't get stronger, they stayed the same from beginning to end. There was no sense of progression, no sense of getting stronger. Yeah you got a couple of new guns/powers to play around with, but they didn't really change up combat. Like, at all. You still stayed behind cover and shot dudes who poked their heads out(or casted your powers, depending on your class). The only two classes that were fun to play were Vanguard(who can charge everywhere) and the Infiltrator class(can turn invisible). And even then it was still pretty "meh".

I agree that the sense of progression was lost man, but I gotta say I found the gradual accuracy increase in ME1 frustrating to deal with. It was like a backwards learning curve, the game got easier towards the end and I always find the first few hours of ME1 a chore due to the clunky aiming. I much preferred how it worked in ME2.

I will say though that I'd love it if they put a lot more stat focus into powers, armour and mods even gun damage stats.... just not the actual shooting accuracy cos tome that removes the element of feeling skillful for pulling off great shots.

Yeah you level up and get a bit more powers, but they all have the same cooldown for some stupid reason, so you'll cast one, then wait for everything to recharge, and then do it again. Its boring.

I agree with that 100%... I hated how you had to wait for powers to cool down before using another one. It over-simplified it and removed some of the tactical element.

Also ME1 had infinite ammo. And no matter how you say it, I don't see how going from unlimited ammo to limited ammo is an upgrade. Especially if you like sniping, in which case you'll be running out of ammo very quickly and have to just go up the front lines and fight Gears of War style anyway. Or sit in an area where the ammo things constantly respawn, which completely undermines the new ammo mechanic.

I preferred the ME2 ammo system... I dunno why, I just guess that it feels more satisfying to use your ammo in a more controlled way. In ME1 it was just 'spray into the massive aiming reticule for 5 minutes till the enemy dies' kinda deal... I preferred the more precise and controlled feel in ME2.

 

[Squeaky]

awsome dumb it down some more I thought the combat was fine in 2 it was just the leveling that was boring and seemed pointless might as well have just tore xp out didnt matter where you spent your points.

 

[Kakashi on crack]

Ahh, so we've spent all this time that we could have spent creating a great story-driven plot, for a, I don't know, game who's main focus in the past was the PLOT and STORY, to instead come up with new mechanics in combat to "be compared with the best shooters in the world."

I better hear something about the plot and how great it is soon, or I'm going to start looking at Mass Effect 3 as a "shooter where you make some choices that effect a couple things."

Not trying to be an ass here (well, actually, I am.) but I personally could care less about the combat system of the Mass Effect games if I can have my story-line. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's going to look at this and say "ahh, so Bioware is gimping out on what the game has revolved around to instead make a call of duty clone with a sci-fi setting."

 

[KorLeonis]

Soooo, they took a good game in ME1, broke the combat for #2, and then decided that this failure was success for some reason and decided not to fix it. Wonderful, I'll pass.

 

[gring]

soooo... more cover based shooting?

sorry, no thanks.

 

[Irridium]

I agree that the sense of progression was lost man, but I gotta say I found the gradual accuracy increase in ME1 frustrating to deal with. It was like a backwards learning curve, the game got easier towards the end and I always find the first few hours of ME1 a chore due to the clunky aiming. I much preferred how it worked in ME2.

I actually liked it. At the beginning I sucked, but by the end I was awesome. And not because Shepard is special or anything, but because I worked for it. I did the work to make him an accurate, strong, deadly biotic god. I did the work, and I got the benefits, and it was awesome.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I preferred the ME2 ammo system... I dunno why, I just guess that it feels more satisfying to use your ammo in a more controlled way. In ME1 it was just 'spray into the massive aiming reticule for 5 minutes till the enemy dies' kinda deal... I preferred the more precise and controlled feel in ME2.

I never sprayed. At least not until the end. Well, I did at first, then I started firing in bursts, rather then holding down the trigger. Crappy accuracy made me take my time with my shots and bullets.

With ME2, it felt more like a "wait until enemy pops his head out of cover, then shoot it" thing. Yeah it was precise, but I didn't like it that much. I have my fill of cover based shooting with Gears and Uncharted, I don't feel like playing another.

Although if they introduced destructible cover... that would be something to help spice up combat.

 

[Quellist]

To all the FPS enthusiasts who dont like RPG fans moaning about ME2 i ask you this. How would you feel if the next Call of Duty/Crysis/whatever was announced as having Turnbased strategy 'elements' and in fact turned out to be 90% TBS and only 10% Shooter and then when the next sequel was underway all the devs could talk about was the new unit commands available for the TBS sections?

Pretty pissed off i suspect.

Most Bioware fans were fans long before the Xbox 360/PS3 came along and were followers of the RPG genre, i think its only natural that as bioware gets more massmarket and ignores its original fanbase they get somewhat antsy, especially as they see a franchise that began as RPG heavy get turned into a shooter with RPG elements stuck on.

 

[Optimystic]

And that is why I liked ME1's combat much more than ME2's. Hopefully ME3 brings back the sense of progression, but from what I hear I doubt it.

By all the gods I hope you're wrong. How the heck can anyone justify the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz/Butcher of Torfan w/e barely able to aim his/her pistol straight, hack a lock or move a pencil with biotics without getting a nosebleed?

Shepard isn't some nub fresh out of the academy - s/he's saved the galaxy twice. I'd think knowing how to aim a pistol is a skill one would pick up along the way.

 

[Irridium]

And that is why I liked ME1's combat much more than ME2's. Hopefully ME3 brings back the sense of progression, but from what I hear I doubt it.

By all the gods I hope you're wrong. How the heck can anyone justify the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz/Butcher of Torfan w/e barely able to aim his/her pistol straight, hack a lock or move a pencil with biotics without getting a nosebleed?

Shepard isn't some nub fresh out of the academy - s/he's saved the galaxy twice. I'd think knowing how to aim a pistol is a skill one would pick up along the way.

The way I see, Shepard was fighting an enemy he/she has never encountered before. He does not know how to fight them.

The way its translated to you, is by not being accurate or very good. As Shepard learns to fight the Geth, your learning how to play. You both learn and get better in tandem.

 

[Korey Von Doom]

As I've told everyone, bioware's progression is obvious, Mass Effect, Awesome, Dragon Age Origins, Awesome, Mass Effect 2, Meh, Dragon Age 2, Very Meh, I can see no other outcome but ME3 and DA3 being terrible.

 

[GoodApprentice]

For ME3, they will mainly focus on planetary resource surveying.

 

[Optimystic]

I missed the loot system in Mass Effect 1 with the guns and armor.

How on earth could you miss selling 50 units of "Polonium Rounds VI" one by one? And god help you if you didn't, because once the Scram Rail X you actually wanted finally dropped, your space napsack was full and you were forced to immediately omnigel it.

This kind of nostalgia just blows my mind.

[
The way I see, Shepard was fighting an enemy he/she has never encountered before. He does not know how to fight them.

How many credits would you like to bet we see many, many repeat enemies in ME3?

Geth, Blue Suns, Mechs, even Collectors - take your pick.

 

[Irridium]

How many credits would you like to bet we see many, many repeat enemies in ME3?

Geth, Blue Suns, Mechs, even Collectors - take your pick.

We'll also be fighting Huskified versions of many races, along with apparently new, badass Cerberus dudes.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

Honestly, I don't care what the actual gameplay is like; both games had their own merits in that respect.

What I want is the colorful cast of characters and the "I can't believe he just did that" moments of the second game, with a plotline on the same scale and with the same urgency as the first.

 

[Optimystic]

We'll also be fighting Huskified versions of many races, along with apparently new, badass Cerberus dudes.

And you will shoot equally accurately at all of them.

And I will love it.

 

[Smokej]

this trend was foreseeable; the real rpg community knows, that they lost the war for some time now(5+ years at least)... Why does Bioware needs to rub salt into the wounds with those lame excuses for the obvious...